Stilettos & Scoundrels: The Presley Thurman Mysteries

Presley Thurman, a sassy, thirty-something red-head, was looking to reinvent herself. She didn't allow the fact she was recently fired to bother her - she was ready to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. Presley is a lover of shopping and Starbucks, and even though she sometimes had bad taste in men, she always had great taste in clothes. Not looking back on corporate America, Presley decided to follow her dream. With her feisty nature and a spirit to not "sweat the small stuff" she was ready to tackle any challenge (even if she had no idea how she would pay the bills).

A Day in the Life of Trixie Pristine

In this short story prequel, Trixie and her friends Berklie and Sophie consider themselves typical 30-something females until someone turns up murdered in their newly opened bookstore/wine bar. They thought they would be living out their dream in their new shop, not trying to catch a killer. Who killed Sylvia and why? Was one of them the intended target?

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Me and the legendary Zimmerman twins - it's a friendship made in geek heaven. And it all started back when I worked for the NSA... My best friend Basia dragged me to the beach for her idea of a vacation. All those annoying people, sand in embarrassing places - not exactly R & R for a girl who doesn't like the sun, the ocean, or bathing suits. I couldn't wait to get back to work. But things started looking up when I ran into Elvis and Xavier Zimmerman. We discovered we had a lot in common: gaming, anchovies, hacking.

Chasing the Dollar: Miranda Vaughn Mysteries Volume 1

Miranda Vaughn has spent the last year and a half fighting for her freedom. Arrested for a fraud scheme involving her supervisors, she's lost her job at a prestigious investment firm, her fiancé, and her reputation. She walks out of the courtroom a free woman, only to find that life has a few more curve balls to throw her way. The jury may have found her not guilty, but Miranda is broke, in debt to her beloved aunt, and can't find a job because of the cloud of suspicion still swirling around her.

1-Click Junkie says:"Terrific New Series!"

Publisher's Summary

Presley wins a bet and thinks she finally is going to get a chance to work with Cooper and show her she's got the potential to be a good security detail for his company. She is miffed when she finds out her first assignment is to protect a bunch of self absorbed beauty queens at a Texas pageant. It soon becomes a more interesting gig than she thought, much to her delight and Cooper's dismay, when one of the beauty queens turns up dead and the fierce competition leave the door wide open to suspects.

Would you consider the audio edition of Tiaras & Texans to be better than the print version?

I haven’t read the print version of Tiaras and Texans but I definitely enjoyed the audiobook version. The narration is fabulous and the story is fun.

What other book might you compare Tiaras & Texans to and why?

I don’t really like comparing books I will say that this is a great cozy mystery, which is a subgenre of crime fiction where the sex and violence are downplayed or even portrayed humorously. (Thanks Wikipedia!)

Which character – as performed by Lee Ann Howlett – was your favorite?

One of the things I enjoyed the most of Lee Ann Howlett’s performance while listening to this audio book was the depiction of the pageant contestants each one was unique which is fantastic when you are listening to an audiobook. The best part is the accent that each one of her characters had, a lot of the time people try too hard for Texas accent and end up sounding awful and since I am a native Texan I can definitely attest to the magnificent job of Lee Ann Howlett.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There isn’t a singular part in the book that moved me the fun of a cozy mystery is the mix of mystery with the light heartedness of a contemporary romance, which this one definitely had.

Presley wins a bet against her boyfriend allowing her to finally work for his security company. Though she starts the assignment especially excited knowing she will be good at this job she ends up annoyed when she finds out that the job in question is to protect beauty queens at a Texas pageant. Soon after beginning the job she and Cooper, her boyfriend and now boss, find that this will be more than just protecting the girls against childish pranks now they will have to find out who murdered one of the girls before it happens again.

I absolutely loved Lee Ann Howlett’s narration of this book. First off her characters where each distinct from the low timber of cooper to the high pitched whine of some of the beauty pageant contestants making the story come to life. What really made this an excellent performance though weren’t just the different voices of her characters but also the accents. I am a native Texan and so many times I come across audio books or even on television where an actor or narrator will butcher the accent but Lee Ann Howlett was spot on, I didn’t even cringe once. The story itself is a great cozy mystery, which is a subgenre of crime fiction where the sex and violence are downplayed or even portrayed humorously. (Thanks Wikipedia!) Laina Turner did a wonderful job with the mystery aspect of the book not once did I suspect who had done it until the very end which is great! You can tell this is not the first book in the series but the fun of a cozy mystery is you don’t really have to start at the beginning this book is no exception Laina Turner makes sure you can keep up with the story from the very beginning. If you are a fan of cozy mysteries or even a beginner I definitely recommend this book, and be sure to check out the great audio book the narration makes it so much better.